Marine flagpole light and socket



Oct. 6,. 1942. P. SAUER MARINE FLAG POLE LIGHT AND SOCKET Original Filed larch B, 1940 PET INVENTOR ER BAUER A'ITORNEY of rust or corrosion, and may Patented Oct. 6, 1942 MARINE FLAGPOLE LIGHT AND SOCKET Peter Sauer, Fairfield, Conn, assignor to The Kilborn-Sauer Company,

Fairfield, Conn, a

corporation of Connecticut Original application March 8, 1940, Serial No. 322,918. Divided and this application March 28, 1941, Serial No. 385,646

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to an improvement in marine flag pole light and socket, and the present application is a division of my original application filed March 8, 1940, Serial No. 322,- 918. The invention has for an object to provide a pole ferrule and a socket having cooperative bayonet locking means formed directly in the ferrule and in the socket, whereby the pole may be readily inserted or removed from the socket and will be reliably retained in place, and further to provide in combination with such bayonet locking means electric contact means adapted to have resilient engagement through engagement of the ferrule in the socket, the ferrule adapted to be yieldably retained in its locked position through the tension created by the resilient contact. By this arrangement the necessity for wing nuts, set screws or other such fastening means for securing the pole in place is dispensed with, and at the same time a more reliable connection is provided which will not tend to loosen through vibration. Furthermore the bayonet connection is not subject to rust or corrosion as in the case of screw threaded fastening means.

A further object is to provide an electric contact means, one part of which is carried in the socket and the other part carried in the pole ferrule, the part carried in the socket being a fixed part while the part carried in the ferrule is a spring pressed movable part, the advantage of this arrangement being that the fixed part in the socket will not be subject to the destructive effects therefore remain ex posed to weather without danger of deterioration. Another object is to provide a socket having water drainage passages in relation to the fixed contact carried thereby, to the end that rain water cannot collect in the socket but will fiow through the socket into the bilge of the boat. It therefore becomes unnecessary to provide a cover plate or cap for the socket in order to prevent water from collecting therein, as has been the practice heretofore.

With the above and other objects in view an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, and this-embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation, partially broken away, showing the flag pole light and socket according to the invention mounted in a boat deck, the latter being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the socket member.

Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the ferrule end of the pole.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View partially in side elevation showing the ferrule and the electric contact unit carried thereby, the pole being removed.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the ferrule.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing the pole cooperatively engaged in the socket.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the flag pole light and socket, according to the exemplary illustrated embodiment of the invention, comprises a cylindrical tubular socket member ID, provided at its upper end with a diagonally disposed mounting flange II having countersunk screw holes l2 therein and provided at its lower end with a transverse bridge support [3, at each side of which there is provided a water drain passage l4, these passages being adjacent the short forward side of the socket and the long rearward side, so that water cannot collect at the bottom of the socket in the mounted relation of the socket in the boat deck 15 as shown in Fig. '7. The flange i l is diagonally disposed so that in the mounted relation, with the flange attached to the deck, the socket will be disposed at an inclination so as to support the pole with the usual rake, as is customary with such marine equipment. The deck is provided with a hole IE to receive the socket which is secured in place by means of screws ll.

At the rearward side of the bore of the socket there is provided a vertical groove l8 extending downwardly from the flange II to a point spaced from the lower end of the socket, where it communicates with a circumferential lateral groove 19 extending part way around the socket, the grooves IB and [9 providing bayonet groove means for receiving the bayonet pin means of the pole ferrule, as will presently more fully appear.

The transverse bridge i3 is provided centrally with an aperture 29 within which is secured the electrical center contact member 2|, which is in the form of a tube flanged at its lower end and flanged or swedged over after assembly at its upper contact end 22, this contact end being concavely recessed to provide a centering seat for engagement of the contact member carried by the ferrule. The contact member 20 is electrically insulated from the bridge by means of a flanged insulation washer 23 engaged at the under side of the bridge and projected into the aperture 28 and by an insulating washer 24 at the upper side of the bridge, these washers being tightly clamped in place through the swedging or clamping over of the end 22 of the contact member. A threaded bore 25 is provided in the contact member in which is engaged the headed wire attaching screw 26 which secures the conductor wire 27 to the center contact. In spaced relation to the center contact the bridge is provided with a threaded hole 28 having a headed wire attaching screw 29 screwed therein and which secures the conductor wire 30 t the socket. These wires 27 and 30 are connected to the electric power source and in the case of an installation where one side of the battery is grounded the wire 2'! will be connected to the battery and the wire 31! will be suitably grounded.

It will be noted that there are no movable or spring parts in the socket member or any parts that will be injuriously affected or have their functions impaired by rust or corrosion. With the pole disengaged any rain water falling into the socket will pass through the passages M, the cross-wise and inclined disposition of the bridge portion i3 between the front and rear surfaces of the socket precluding any possibility of water collecting and remaining in the socket, the same being entirely free of any pockets or horizontal surfaces.

The pole 3!, shown formed of wood, is provided with a wire conduit passage 32 therethrough, and upon the upper end of the pole there is mounted the light unit 33 to which the two conductor wires 34 and 35 which extend through the passage 32 are connected. Upon the lower end of the pole, which is shouldered as at 36, there is engaged the cylindrical metal ferrule member 31.

As shown clearly in Fig. this member is provided in its lower end with a relatively thick metal disc 38 having a central cylindrical passage 39 therein, this disc being rigidly secured in the ferrule by soldering, welding or the like. A radially projecting bayonet pin 3% is provided near the lower end of the ferrule, being set into a pocket ll in the disc 38 and rigidly secured by soldering, welding or the like. A threaded radial hole 42 is provided through the disc and the ferrule, preferably diametrically opposite to the bayonet pin 40 and in which is screwed a set screw 33 for the purpose of rigidly securing in place the electric contact unit.

This unit comprises a tubular cylindrical metal shell 44 having its upper end 45 dome shaped and provided with an inwardly flanged central conductor wire receiving passage. A cylindrical tubular insulation sleeve 26 is fitted in the shell, and in the lower end of this sleeve there is inserted a flanged apertured cup member 5? through which the stem 48 of the movable center contact head d9 is slidably engaged, a spring 553 being provided about the stem between the head ii-3 and the cup 4?. The stem 49 is screwed into a metal sleeve 5i to which the end of the conductor wire 36 is secured by soldering, this sleeve forming a stop shoulder for limiting the projection of the stem under pressure of the spring 56 through contact with the inner end of the cup 41, as shown in Fig. 5. The conductor wire 35 is connected to the metal shell 44 by soldering, as at '52.

The passage 32 through the pole is enlarged at its lower end, as at 32 to provide a pocket for receiving the shell 64, and the ferrule is non-rotatably secured to the lower end of the pole by means of a screw 53 engaged through a hole 5G in the ferrule.

In order to engage the pole in the socket the pin ie is engaged in the groove i3 and the ferrule dropped into the socket so that the spring contact member 419 engages the fixed contact 25'. With the parts of this relation and with the spring 59 expanded the bayonet pin 43 is within the vertical groove 8 at a point slightly above the lateral bayonet groove I9. In order to secure the pole it is pressed downwardly into the socket, compressing the spring 50 t0 the point where the bayonet pin 4!] registers with the lateral bayonet groove [9, and thereupon the pole is rotated to bring the pin 40 into the groove IS, the pole preferably being rotated to the point where the pin 43 abuts the end of the groove i 9. During the rotation of the pole the engaged contact members 49 and 2! form a center pivot to facilitate easy turning. In this locked position the compressed spring 50 both maintains the locked position of the pole and tight contacting engagement between the contact members 159 and ll, thus maintainin positive electrical connection between the conductor wires 34 and 27. Electrical connection between the conductor wires 35 and 33 is established through the contacting relations of the shell #54, disc 38, ferrule 3?, socket lo, and screw 29. While the pole is firmly and reliably retained by the spring pressed bayonet connection it may be readily removed simply by rotating it to bring the pin st into register with the vertical groove l 8, whereupon the expanding spring 49 partially lifts the ferrule in the socket.

I have illustrated and described a preferred and satisfactory embodiment of the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: for insertion in a metallic in said socket with its outer surface in contact therewith, a relatively thick current conducting in the lower end of said tube PETER SAUER. 

